Legendary screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan has commented on the fallout with the ousted directors of Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Those plugged into the production process of Solo: A Star Wars Story will be aware that the film now directed by Ron Howard was at one point being filmed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller until the duo were axed over creative differences.
Kasdan, the writer of The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens, has also penned the screenplay for Solo and has now commented about the differences he had with the former directors, saying that Solo had to change course.
“These movies are so gigantic, it is a little hard to identify exactly what moving part changes when there is a change of direction,” Kasdan told Empire Magazine (via CBM). “But this movie had to go in a different direction. I’m a great believer that whatever preconceptions you have going into a movie, whatever resistance you might have, whatever excitement you may have because you’re going to see a familiar character, all bets are off about three minutes into the movie.”
Kasdan isn’t the only that has spoken about the former directors’ unsuitability for the job, as Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy sung a similar tune to Entertainment Weekly earlier this year:
“I think these guys are hilarious, but they come from a background of animation and sketch comedy and when you are making these movies you can do that and there’s plenty of room for improvisation, we do that all the time,” Kennedy said. “But it has to be inside of a highly structured process or you can’t get the work done and you can’t move the armies of people to anticipate and have things ready. So, it literally came down to process. Just getting it done.”
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SEE ALSO: More new footage from Solo: A Star Wars Story revealed in latest TV spot
A new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.
Solo: A Star Wars Story features Alden Ehrenreich (Hail, Caesar!) as the famous smuggler, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson (War for the Planet of the Apes) as Tobias Beckett, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) as L3-37, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Qi’Ra, Thandie Newton (Westworld) as Val, Ian Kenny (Sing Street) as Rebolt, Harley Durst (Wonder Woman) as Moloch, Jon Favreau (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Rio Durant, Tien Hoang (Now You See Me 2) as Moloch’s henchman and Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) and Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
Originally published April 18, 2018. Updated December 3, 2022.
